Just a Minor GroundBridge Accident
by inkdragon13
Summary: After seeing what happened to Optimus, as well as the look on his face, everyone agreed to never speak of it again... At least, not in his presence, anyway.


**After seeing a bit of fan art over on DeviantART, called 'Minor GroundBridge Accident' by BrookRiver, I just had to write a fanfic around it. Don't worry; I have the artist's permission to proceed.**

**This starts in Ratchet's POV, is set in the Prime continuity, and I don't own the Transformers. **

**But enough chattering. Here's my little one-shot! :)**

I banged my fist down on the Ground Bridge control panel, more frustrated than I had been in a long time. Well, with something that wasn't alive, anyway.

For hours today I have been going between the control panel, the central conduits, and the Ground Bridge's energon fuel lines, trying to fix something in this transportation portal. And much to my annoyance, I can't seem to diagnose what in the Pit is going on with it. I just know that there is _something_ wrong, which doesn't help me very much when it comes to fixing the fault.

But, I suppose I can be grateful that it can still get bots from one place to another without having their limbs transported to some random location. That was proven today when I transported Optimus out of the base.

He requested to investigate another underground signal that he detected, saying that there was a possibility that it was an untapped energon mine. With the energon in such short supply, we can't afford not to check the signals we find.

So, even with the bugs I've been bothered with involving the Ground Bridge, I managed to safely get him into that cave.

I haven't heard anything from Optimus in a while, so I'm assuming that there is nothing wrong. He would have notified me otherwise. All the better for me, that way I'll be able to focus my attention on finding this bug in the Ground Bridge system. It doesn't seem to be causing a major problem... but I have to keep in mind that there is always the potential that it could become one.

I suppose that I should be somewhat thankful that Optimus is the only one that is not in the base at the moment, meaning that there is only one bot that I have to worry about. I know for certain that, if he were left out in the field because of problems involving the Ground Bridge, Optimus could handle himself, so long as he isn't in biologically harming environment, such as in the Arctic.

Our leader's current environment on this late evening isn't something that I have to concern myself with. The possible energon signal originated from a relatively cool cave, not far below the surface. Well, not far in Cybertronian standards. Had that signal been in an extreme environment, I would not have allowed him out there for investigative purposes (or _any_ purpose, for that matter), especially with the problems I am having with the Ground Bridge.

We came close to the consequences of an event similar to that potential one, and we'd all rather not go something like that ever again.

I commed Bumblebee, asking him to come to the main control room. He didn't have me waiting long, and came after a few moments. The young scout already knew the trouble I was having, he stopped by a little while ago, and willingly assisted me in taking up the panels on the floor near the left side of the Ground Bridge.

Perhaps two minds working can advance progress in finding the issue. The young mech is much smarter than he gives himself credit for, and has helped me in the past in regards to finding bugs in the Ground Bridge and fixing them.

Turning on my heel, I walked over to my workbench on the other side of the main control room to get my toolbox and datapads containing the Ground Bridge schematics. When I returned to Bumblebee, I handed him one of the datapads, and placed my toolbox on the floor.

"_You must be having a real problem if you called me for this sort of help,"_ Bumblebee commented as he stood next to me, tapping the screen of his datapad to activate it.

I gave him a slightly annoyed look before responding. "Well, I know I can't always find ever bug that comes up with our technology."

"_Basically two heads are better than one?"_

I looked up from my datapad and crouched, grabbing one of my wrenches from my toolbox. The young mech eyed me suspiciously, doorwings stiffening slightly, as I moved to loosen the screws holding a control panel onto the wall just next the Ground Bridge. The look in his optic made me laugh a bit inwardly. As soon as I touch my wrenches, people in the area think I'm going to hit someone (Bulkhead). While that is usually the case, it won't be happening here.

Unless, of course, Bumblebee gives me a reason to launch one of these wrenches at his helm.

I grunted slightly, yanking the panel off the wall, squinting to keep the dust that shot out from blinding me. Putting the panel down on the floor and creating a mental note of where it was to that I wouldn't forget, I looked back at Bumblebee, who was still holding the schematics datapad.

"Yes, I suppose you're right. Now let's see what we can find here. There has to be something that I missed." Bumblebee nodded in agreement as he lifted his doorwings in his usual enthusiasm, and we got to work.

...Optimus's POV: Forty Minutes Later...

I am quite pleased to say that the signal that I came here to investigate was indeed one originating from raw energon. This cave contains a sizeable reservoir of untapped energon, and I believe that it will sustain us for an extended period of time.

Retracting my sword as I stood in the cave, illuminated by my headlights, I gazed down at the glowing blue crystal resting innocently in the palm of my hand. I will bring this sample back to the base soon, for Ratchet to analyze, and return with assistance to mine the energon here.

In my extensive search of the cave, I have come to the safe conclusion that the Decepticons do not know of the energon that lies here. I found no physical evidence of their presence, nor have I picked up any Decepticon transmission signals in my scans that would indicate that their technology is in the area.

I am confident that this is the first energon reserve in a long time we have found that has not been tapped by Decepticons.

Shifting slightly on my feet due to the gravel on the stone floor, I placed the energon sample in my subspace and activated my comm. link system to contact the base.

"_Optimus to base, come in."_ The response to my transmission was immediate, albeit not as formal as I expected.

"_Yes, what is it, Optimus?" _Ratchet asked, his tone indication a hint of frustration and irritation, though not directed towards me.

"_I have found a large energon reserve in this cave, one untouched by the enemy. There is no evidence of the Decepticons' presence, and I have great confidence in our future activity here going unnoticed by them. I have also prepared a sample of the raw energon to bring back to the base."_ The smile was evident in the tone of his response to my words. The news must have lifted his spirits.

"_That's excellent! I'll have a Ground Bridge sent to your coordinates shortly. Once you come, you can gather the others to assist you in getting the energon." _With that, the comm. link connection was severed, and I patiently waited, dimming the brightness of my head lights for the greater comfort of my optics.

A few moments passed, and a transportation vortex has yet to appear. Perhaps this was the issue with the Ground Bridge Ratchet complained about before I was sent to this cave. He said that he knew for certain that there was some sort of issue with the Ground Bridge, but he could not find what it was regardless of what he tried, understandably aggravating him.

Thankfully, it seems that problem was resolved while I was away from the base.

The familiar sound of the Ground Bridge appearing echoed off the cave walls, and I turned to see the vortex spinning expectantly behind me.

Soon enough, I was stepping through the bright threshold of the spinning blue-green tunnel and walking towards my destination. All seemed well in the wormhole, until I noticed that the tunnel had begun to spin much faster than normal. Concerned, I moved to contact Ratchet regarding this alarming change, hastening my pace, when my old friend sent a transmission before I could.

"_Optimus, what's going on in there? I'm getting some powerful readings in that Ground Bridge tunnel. Ones I have never seen before."_

"_The Ground Bridge tunnel seems to be spinning at a much higher acceleration than I have ever encountered," _I reported, looking down and around me as I noticed another worrying change in the tunnel I moved along in. The blue-green energy of the Ground Bridge had begun to grow lighter in color and more luminescent.

"_Well, all I can tell you is get out of there _now!_ With the power spikes I'm seeing, I have no idea what's liable to happen if this continues."_

I silently agreed as the connection was severed, and began to run towards the other end of the Ground Bridge tunnel. I could very well only have a few seconds to leave this vortex, placing my alternate mode out of the question as a means of escape. Though short, the time it will take to transform and accelerate to escape could very well be too long, making it a risk that I am not willing to take.

I ran, bringing my servos to my optics in a vain attempt to shield them from the now blinding white light of the Ground Bridge, and the tunnel had begun to roar around me. I could no longer see where I was going, but I ran nonetheless, knowing that the tunnel was going to end soon and that I would leave this now dangerous place.

Thankfully, my race to the end was not a long one.

Soon I felt the bottom my pede come in contact with a cool liquid, I believe it is water, and I heard the angry roaring of the Ground Bridge suddenly cease. Automatically, my optics worked to adjust and refocus, still throbbing from the blinding light I left.

I opened my optics and looked around. After seeing my surroundings, I came to the safe conclusion that I was not going to be in the best of moods when I returned home.

...Ratchet's POV: Autobot Outpost Omega One – Thirty Minutes Later...

I gave Bumblebee an evil sideways look as I tightly clutched my wrench, and the young mech immediately took a precautious step back as the others looked on.

"What in Primus's name did you do?" I asked calmly, making the young mech's doorwings lower even further. A little while ago, we completely lost Optimus's signal and he never made it to the other end of the Ground Bridge back here at the base.

And I had a strange feeling that this had something to do with the adjustments to the Ground Bridge Bumblebee suggested.

"_I don't know what I did! I thought that the change to the circuitry to the Bridge would help fix the problem. I didn't mean for all this to happen,"_ Bumblebee said, a regretful tone in his voice. Bulkhead, who was standing off to the side near Arcee, nodded in agreement, defending the young mech.

"Yeah, he was just trying to help out, Ratch'." Hearing him, I turned to him to respond in an irritated tone.

"Regardless, we need to locate Optimus's signal, stat!" The others nodded, agreeing with me, and did what they could to help, including pulling off panels to look over the circuitry again and scan the Ground Bridge schematics for anything that could possibly be a solution for this problem we are in.

I worked on the green tinted monitor, trying for Optimus's signal repeatedly, and kept coming up with nothing. The only ways for a signal to just disappear like that is if the bot died or went out of the scanners range.

I sincerely hope that the former is not the case, and I have the feeling that it isn't to begin with. The only other option would be Optimus landing out of range, one that didn't make sense. Being out of range required Optimus to be nowhere on Earth. And the Ground Bridge is barely capable of getting a bot off this planet. I highly doubt that the Bridge would take Optimus to Mars at random.

After a few moments of trial and error, Arcee suggested that we send a Ground Bridge to the exact same coordinates we did before. I could tell that she was drawing from what happened with the children. Perhaps Optimus was caught in another dimension, as the children had been for a while.

With nothing else better to do, I agreed to follow through with what she said. Soon the Ground Bridge was up and spinning, with the exact same high energy readings as before. I was just as nervous as I was the first time this happened, as I don't know what sort of damage could result from the sheer amount of energy being generated.

"_Now all we can do is wait,"_ Bumblebee commented as he looked in the direction of the now heated white vortex, and that was just what we did. Thankfully we didn't have to wait very long for something to happen.

Bulkhead's face lit up, and Bumblebee's doorwings lifted with elation as we all spied a tall figure coming towards us through the tunnel. We all stood around the Ground Bridge, watching the figure come closer, and I gave a sigh of relief as I turned off the transportation vortex.

The frame of that figure is all too familiar and I gave a small smile and a sigh of relief. It was Optimus! And he appeared to be unharmed. Thank Primus Arcee's suggestion worked. He must have been caught in another dimension.

One thing I did notice that was a bit strange was that he was tracking water into the base, but I didn't pay much attention to it.

"Optimus, are you al-," I said before cutting myself off at the sight of our leader in the light of the base. Bumblebee and Bulkhead were in the middle of their statements as well before they cut themselves off, just as suddenly as I did.

My optics widened and silence fell over the room as we all stared at Optimus. Now I'm starting to believe that he was caught in another dimension, but what sort of dimension would do _that_ to him?

Bumblebee, who was closest to our leader, merely stared up at him in shock. Bulkhead bore the same expression while Arcee was attempting to resist the urge to laugh.

Our leader stood outside the Ground Bridge entrance wearing a black top hat with a red band around it.

All I could do now was an optic ridge at him as I tried not to smile. Now that I've gotten over the shock (which was fairly quickly), I can see why Arcee was putting so much effort into not laughing.

Along with the top hat, our leader wore a golden monocle over his left optic, and in his right servo he tightly held a closed, long, black umbrella that was dripping with water. The umbrella could have operated as a sort of cane, as it had the handle for one.

But the one thing that I couldn't help but laugh at was one of the other things he was wearing, and the look on his face.

I'd never thought I would live to see the day that Optimus wore a mustache.

And it was white, to match his color scheme! At this point, Arcee and I were making no effort to hold back the laughter. All the while, Optimus's expression never changed.

He had the angriest look I had ever seen in the long years that I have known him. Such a look would have made me at the very least nervous, but with the things he was wearing, it was just hilarious!

Optimus gazed around the room slowly, looking at each and every one of us before speaking in a deadly calm that was slightly out of character for our leader. The tone in his voice managed to end the laughter directed towards him, and all of our attention was focused on his serious words.

"Not a word of this," Optimus said in a low tone. It sounded as though he were talking through his teeth. "_Ever. Again._"

We all nodded in agreement and stayed silent as our leader reached up towards the black top hat. He took the hat off his helm and put it on Bumblebee's without looking at the young mech.

Without another word, Optimus walked past us, still holding his black, dripping umbrella, heading towards the hall that lead to his room. All of us followed him with our optics, and I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing at the black cloak attached to his shoulders.

We watched Optimus's flowing cloak until he disappeared down the hall, still tracking water through the base. After he left, we all looked back at each other. Well, most of us, anyway.

The hat Optimus put on Bumblebee's head was, of course, far too big for him, and came down over his eyes. Bumblebee was looking around like a confused kitten with a towel over its head before he lifted it up by the rim so he could see.

"...Okay, never again." Bulkhead said, smiling, optic ridges raised as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Please tell me someone got a picture," Arcee commented, and Bulkhead sheepishly lifted a servo a bit, making her chuckle a bit. I only shook my head. I can only hope that Bulkhead doesn't show the children that picture he saved. Nothing good would ever come out of that, especially with Miko.

I can only wonder exactly what happened to Optimus, but I suppose now that I'll never find out for certain. I would have loved to know, especially since I can safely assume that the adjustment that Bumblebee suggested caused it. What could that adjustment have caused exactly? Whatever it was, it must have been very strange for Optimus.

But one thing that I'm still left with is that bug in the Ground Bridge from before. Clearly Optimus's adventure means that the Bridge wasn't back to normal functionality.

"_Uh, I've got one question."_ We all turned at Bumblebee's words, focusing on him.

Bumblebee looked up briefly at the oversized hat on his head as he used his servo to hold it up over his eyes so he could see. Even with that, the large hat leaned to the side, partially covering his left optic. Even I have to admit he looked adorable like that.

"_Can I keep this hat?"_

**I can imagine that Optimus looked like such a gentleman after that. **

**Just a short little something while I work on the next chapter of 'Tiny'. You got to go check out BrookRiver's work over on DeviantART; it's awesome! **

**Till next time! :)**

**P.S. So what do you think happened to Optimus?**


End file.
